Monday 25 May 2015

Chorizo and squid salad with crunchy chickpeas

One of the things I love most about Spain is chorizo. There aren't many things that it wouldn't work with. Its spiciness brings extra kick to creamy, rich ingredients (like in this roasted pumpkin and chorizo pizza) and works well with the gentle flavour of seafood (as this crayfish and chorizo tart or these chorizo and prawn cocktail treats prove).  Mar y montaña; combining meat with fish/ seafood is typical feature of Spanish cooking - especially around Catalonia. Chorizo is one of the staples of our fridge. Another thing we always have in one shape or another is squid. Good job we do, too: as Tzatziki Champion arrived for lunch a while back she made her wishes clear. "Squid! You've got to make me some squid!!!" And that's what I did.

This salad is easy and uses only a handful of ingredients. Crunchy chickpeas make for a nice finishing touch. Yummylicious!

Always thaw squid in plenty of cold water - if you let them thaw in their package the're easily left with an unpleasantly stale taste.

I tossed the chickpeas in a bit of oil and seasoned them with just salt and pepper, but if the chorizo you're using is not very spicy, add to oil pimentòn, garlic powder, ground cumin and ground coriander (about 1/4 tsp each).





Serves 2-3, as tapas 4-5

Squid, chorizo and chickpea salad:

225 g chorizo
1 kg squid (once thawed and cleaned, about 600 g)
1 smallish red onion, finely sliced
1 large bunch of parsley
salt, black pepper

Crunchy chickpeas:

1 can chickpeas, drained and picked
2 tsp oil
salt, black pepper

For serving: lemon wedges

Start the salad by roasting the chickpeas. Pat the chickpeas dry and toss in oil. Spread onto a tray lined with parchment and season with salt and pepper. Roast at 180° for 30-40 minutes until crisp, shaking halfway through.

Fry red onion for a couple of minutes until softened a bit. 

Cut chorizo into 1/2 cm thick slices and fry on a pan until crisp and golden. 

Clean squid, rinse and pat dry. Cut the body to 1 cm thick rings. Season with salt and pepper and fry in a hot pan quickly in batches.

Alternatively you could just throw the ingredients onto a barbecue!

Combine the ingredients, drizzle with lemon juice and serve.




The wine choice was not the result of a thorough investigation and analysis - I had bought it solely based on the label. The origin, to be precise: it comes from Luberon in the South of France, famous from both Peter Mayle's Provence books and the film A Good Year (based on one of his books, BTW!). I've recently been enjoying both in a bid to find cure for the chronic travel fever.

The wine is a blend of four varieties: Grenache Blanc, Bourboulenc, Ugni Blanc and Roussanne. The wine is dry with ripe fruitiness and acidity which make this an easy wine to combine with variety of dishes, especially ones with richness and spiciness.






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ANYONE FOR SECONDS?



      



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